Wire nail machine



(No Model.) l 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. H. RYAN. 4.

WIRE NAIL MACHINE. No. 309,255. Patented. Dec. 16 1884.

l w I v I "'2. m l a;

(No Model.) 3 Sheets --Shaet 2.

G.H.BYAN.

WIRE NAIL MACHINE;

No. 309,255. tented Dec. 16, 1884. v

N. PETERS. Phoko-Lifiwgmphnr. Washmglon. D. c.

3' Sheets-Sheet 3.

e. H. RYAN.

WIRE'NAIL MAGHINE.

No. 309,255. Patented D60. 16, 1.884.

Win-155555.

N. PETERS. PhuIn-Lkhogrnphun Wilslvingkum n. c.

I UnTTnn TaTns PATENT FHQE-O GEORGE H. RYAN, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIG'NOR TO L. A. ROUNDS, OF SAME PLACE.

WIRE-NAIL MACHINE.

SPECIPIOATTON forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,255, dated December16, 1884.

Application filed January 7, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. RYAN, of Taunton, in the county of Bristoland State f of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Machine forMaking W'ire Nails and Tacks, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part hereof,which show one of my improved machines Figure 1 being a centrallongitudinal secl tion; Fig. 2, a plan. Fig. 3 is. a side view showingthe gripping-dies and the lever for forcing them together. Fig. 4 is aside view showing the feed mechanism.

Machines for making nails and tacks from wire or wire-like strips ofmetal have long been in use; and they consist, essentially, of afeedingdevice for feeding the wire forward, step by step, according to thelength of nail desired,a pair of gripping-dies, which open j ust beforethe wire is fed between them and which close upon and grip the wire andhold it firmly, a pair of cutters which cut off the wire at the properdistance from the gripping dies, and a header, the blow of which upsetsthat part of thewire which projects from the dies and forms a head. Aclearer is also used, whose function is to strike the. finished nail andknock it clear of the wire in case the out ters should not havecompletely severed it, this clearer operating while the wire is held bythe gripping-dies just after the cutters have operated and just beforethe header is thrown forward.

My invention relates mainly to the heading mechanism and incidentally tothe feeding mechanism; and it consists in causing the header to striketwo blows on each nail instead of but one, as heretofore.

Inasmuch as wire nails and tacks vary in diameter and also in the amountof stock desirable in the head, it is necessary to nicely regulate theforce of the blow given by the header to suit the size of wire used andthe kind of head required, and owing to this a machine well adapted tocertain sizes of wire is almost wholly unfit for use on wire one sizelarger, and practically useless on wire two sizes larger th an themachine was made for; hence in practice a series of machines isrequisiteone size for wire of a certain gage and below that gage, thenext size for wire of a certain larger gage and so 0nthe second sizebeing over double the weight of the smallest size as these machines areusually made, as the force of the blow struck by the header for wire ofa certain diameter must be much more than doubled for wire of twice thatdiameter.

The object of my invention is to diminish the force of blow requisite inheading the nails, and thereby not only adapt agiven size of machine formuch larger wire than heretofore, but also to improve the heads of thenails, for I have found by experience that two comparatively light blowsof the header on each nail will do the work done by oneheavy blow and doit better.

In order to get more time for the double blow of the header, I havealtered the feeding mechanism and have also so timed the meeh anism bywhich the erated as to cause them to grip the wire for a larger portionof each revolution of the machine than heretofore.

Many of the parts of the machine shown are old and well known, except asabove indi cated, and will not be described except in so far as theirdescription is needed to a clear understanding of my invention.

In the drawings, Arepresents the frame; B,

the header-slide, and 0 its spring.

F represents the clearer.

H H represent the cutter-levers; if it, the cutters, and h [L7 thecutter-cams.

The header-slide B is forced back against the spring 0 by means of acam, 11, which is provided with a the header in its retracted positionlong enough to enable the wire to be fed forward the length of a nail,to allow the gripping-dies to seize the wire, the cutters to severit,andthe clearer to knock the finished nail out of the way. The projectionb then releases the headenslide B, which is thrown forward by thespringCwith force sufficient to partially form ahead on the wire held bythe gripping-diesDD. Another projection, b on the cam I), again forcesthe gripping-dies are op concentric portion, Z), to hold header-slideagainst the spring 0, but quickly releases it and allows it to be thrownforward to make a second blow and finish the head.

It is obvious that r the gripping-dies D D must be opened and the feedtake place in the same time that the projection I) of the cam b isretracting the header-slide B. The lever d of the upper gripping-die, D,is hinged to its frame and is forced down by means of lever d,

pivoted at (1 actuated by cam d", and forced Atoggle-pin, d connects Theshape back by spring (1". the lever d with the cam-lever d.

of the cam d is shown in Fig. 3, from which it will be seen that thedepression by which the gripping-dies are allowed to separate forms asmall portion only of the periphery of the cam, the concentric part ofwhich holds the dies together.

For the purpose of nicely adjusting the face of the gripping-dies inrelation to the cutters, so as to cause the exact amount of metalrequired for the head to project, I have mounted the gripping-dies inaframe, I, movable on the main frame A but capable of being rigidlysecured to the main frame A, by means of screw-bolts M and screw i. Theholes in the main frame through which the bolts it pass are elongated topermit the requisite movement, as is also, the hole in the ear of frameIthrough which screw i passes. A wedge, i", isinserted between the frameI and the main frameA and adapted to be adjusted by means of a screw, '6and nut '5'. On loosening the bolts.@' i and screw i and properlyadjusting the wedge 4 the frame I, and consequently the dies D D, may bemoved toward or from the cutters h h to accurately determine the amountof metalleft between the cutters and the dies for forming the head ofthe nail. It is desirable that the stress of the lever (1 should be suchas to tend to keep lever din place, and for this reason the toggle-pin dis so inclined as to allow for the requisite adjustments of thegrippingdies and still retain its bracing position.

I do not claim the combination of header, gripping-dics,and mechanismfor adjusting the grippingdies toward and from the header. The feed-camJ operates the usual feed-carriage, j, in one direction and a spring, joperates it in the opposite direction under control of the cam J. Thefeed-carriagej is of the usual construction and slips readily over thewire when moved by the spring j but grips the wire and feeds it alongwhen moved by the cam J.

It will be obvious that any suitable feed may be used if properly timedwith relation to the gripping-dies.

The header-cam b has heretofore been upon the shaft h*, which carriesthe cutter-cams h h and has consequently been placed between thecutter-cams, and it has therefore been usual to make these cams in onepiece. In my machine I make the header-cam b independent of thecutter-cams and place it on a separate shaft, 1). This enables theheadercam b to be made much wider than is possible when it is placedbetween the cutter-cams h 71 For the purpose of keeping thecutter-levers in their correct positions I use conical bushings k on thetrunnions of the cutter-levers, these trunnions being made conical tofit the bushings, so that the wear is readily taken up by simplyadjusting the bushings. These bushings fit closely in their holes andare held in place by set-screws, as shown.

-What I claim as my invention is- In a machine for making nails andtacks from wire, the combination of the header, the feed, theclamping-dies, and the cutters with a cam having a concentric portion tohold the header back while the wire is fed forward and the cutters severthe finished tack, and projections to operate the header twice for eachoperation of the feed and cutters, substan tially as described.

GEO. H. RYAN.

lVitnesses:

J. E. MAYNADIER, WM. MAYNADIER.

